Tiger's Back Baby and moving all needles!

[razaar]

Tiger may need to re- employ his old caddy Steve Williams. Pro golfers can be very superstitious. Breaking up a winning team, especially one as successful as Tiger and Steve may have been one of Tiger's worst decisions. Whether it was request from Nike or whatever. Steve did OK from the break but Tiger fell away. I wonder what Steve thinks about the new Tiger?

[Craig_Syd]

I'm dropping a pineapple on him this week..... Go Tiger! Still one of the greatest players to ever tee it up.

[dee cee]

I wouldn't risk $10 on him!

[davepuppies]

Tiger may need to re- employ his old caddy Steve Williams. Pro golfers can be very superstitious. Breaking up a winning team, especially one as successful as Tiger and Steve may have been one of Tiger's worst decisions. Whether it was request from Nike or whatever. Steve did OK from the break but Tiger fell away. I wonder what Steve thinks about the new Tiger?

It did wonders for Adam Scott..... And then as soon as he stepped away Adam became a whole lot less dominant.

[Craig_Syd]

Tiger chips in! Stick that up ya clacker Brett Ogle!

[Jarro]

Now he's suffering some back issues

[Craig_Syd]

Yep, will be lucky to get trough the round.... Guess I am not going to the pub tonight (done my dosh).

[Looney]

Just pulled got after 12 holes. looks like he is gone to me

[Jarro]

Yep...goneski.

[FuzzyJuzzy]

Depends on how bad his back injury is this time, but there's definitely merit in Tiger at least thinking about retiring now I reckon. Can't see him doing it just yet because of his competitive nature, but a lesser competitor might…. . I hope he doesn't draw stumps just yet though...

[BayBum]

"My glutes aren't activating"

He's butt hurt.

[Jarro]

The injury certainly seemed worse when he hit a bad shot.

[FuzzyJuzzy]

"My glutes aren't activating"

He's butt hurt.

He's been using some funny phrases, hasn't he? How many times has he waffled on about his "pattern" in interviews when explaining his chipping? Then Faldo in the commentary box this morning all but calling all that a bunch of rubbish. The big Pom was borderline ropable...

[BayBum]

The injury certainly seemed worse when he hit a bad shot.

I noticed that too. I'm not saying he's putting it on but I think he's being a bit of a hypochondriac. His expectations of himself are bigger than ours of him so he's expecting to be Tiger of old, over night. IMHO of course.

[razaar]

Anybody who has lower back issues knows that it is extremely painful to swing a golf club. The glutes are major muscles attaching the legs to the pelvic girdle and to the lower back. The right glutes attach to the left lat muscle and the left glutes attach to the right lat. Any soft tissue injury in the lower back/pelvic region will put the glutes and other muscles of the pelvis into spasm. It doesn't take much to injure a body that has been subjected to the compression forces of millions of violent golf swings over a 25 year period.

[Jarro]

So he's come back too early then Ray. He obviously wasn't fit enough to play using the swing he wanted to.

[razaar]

Jarro,
Tiger's body must be loaded with scar tissue from his many injuries. The scar tissue is much stronger than the soft tissue it's joined to. It is at the join where the weak link is due to the scar tissue being less pliable than the muscle tissue. It is a vicious circle where a tear can occur any old time in play or practice. I doubt he will ever come close to what he could do before his knee injury.
He may not want to be around if he can't contend in the majors or other big events. He dropped out of the top 50 and looks to be getting worse.

Good to see Cam Smith shoot +1 at the Farmers in his first event. Played 9holes with him and his Dad last Friday. He didn't hit it that great but still had a 5 under for the 9.

[FuzzyJuzzy]

That's a cracking score from Cam Smith. Well done. Let's hope he shoots something similar on the South Course.

[Shane788]

Couldn't tiger try slow things down a tad so it's not so violent before he just throws in the towel? I'm not sure if doing that is possible at such a high level but it works for me when my back is bad
Surely losing 20-30m but still playing ok is better than retiring from the sport you dominated for so long.

[FuzzyJuzzy]

Couldn't tiger try slow things down a tad so it's not so violent before he just throws in the towel? I'm not sure if doing that is possible at such a high level but it works for me when my back is bad
Surely losing 20-30m but still playing ok is better than retiring from the sport you dominated for so long.

You'd think (hope?) that he'd considered that, hey? The commentators (particularly Faldo) were ranting along those lines too.

[Shane788]

Yeah well I would of thought that would of been the next step after having back surgery, I have a pretty bad lower back that gets really bad every couple months and the first thing I do is slow it right down just to be able to play, if anything I hit it better with very minimal distance loss. I hope he tries something like that next, grew up watching him in his prime and always been a favourite of mine so I'd hate to see him tap out from this.

[Eag's]

So he's come back too early then Ray. He obviously wasn't fit enough to play using the swing he wanted to.

Spot on Mark, if he gave himself maybe 3-6 months more time to get his body and the new short game time to settle in, I think we would have seen a different Tiger.

[virge666]

I reckon it is technical.

That downswing is awful. And it puts so much pressure on the lower back.

Maybe his body just won't let him play golf anymore...

[FuzzyJuzzy]

Yeah well I would of thought that would of been the next step after having back surgery, I have a pretty bad lower back that gets really bad every couple months and the first thing I do is slow it right down just to be able to play, if anything I hit it better with very minimal distance loss. I hope he tries something like that next, grew up watching him in his prime and always been a favourite of mine so I'd hate to see him tap out from this.

Ditto mate. I started playing golf as a 12-year-old in late 1996 - just in time to watch (wide-eyed and fully geeking out) Tiger win his first major a few months later. Great time to first get into golf.
If Woods somehow goes on to win another major, where would it rank in comparison to Jack winning that last major at 46-years-old? I don't think it'd be as big of a fairy tale, but it'd be a hell of a comeback story given where Tiger is at right now...

[yoyo]

I was surprised his back went so early. I figured if he made the cut then maybe round 3 or 4 could be dicey, but to withdraw after 12?? Crazy. Tells you that is much more nerve/spasm related and likely cones on in a very idiosynchratic manner....very frustrating to try and manage.